The Story of Jade West
by ArtemisPanther
Summary: After Beck and Jade's break-up, Jade begins having feelings for Tori. Things at home are getting worse. But Jade can let all her feelings go away during the school's production of Romeo and Juliet. JORI
1. Intro

_Bleep! Bleep! Bleep!_

Before I can even stop it my arm goes flying until I practically pound my alarm clock in submission. I get up and look around. I can hear my dad and stupid step-mom arguing again.

"Uggh."

I fall backwards back into my bed, which feels so much more comfortable in the morning. After about twenty more minutes I get up and start getting ready. I undress and look in my closet for an outfit for today. They all seem the same to me. Black, black, dark grey, black, navy blue, black, light black, dark grey, black. I just randomly grab something and throw it on. I see the time and realize I don't have time to do my hair.

I slip out of my room and past my so-called parents out onto the drive way. I get in my car and for a second I forgot how to start it. God, ever since Beck and I broke up I've been having trouble doing everything. Get over it Jade. It's been like a week. Why am I even thinking about it?

I decide to just focus on the road until I get to school. I pull into the parking lot and I get out. Not many people are still in the Asphalt Café since class is starting soon. I ignore anyone who cowers away from me and has the courage to say hey.

How did I get this rep? Why? I don't like being this person. I especially don't like the things people say about me or think of me. But I pretend not to care.

I get into class two seconds before the bell. I can see the only open seat is next to Tori. For some reason, I don't completely dread having to sit next to her.

"Hi Jade." She says in her bright, cheery tone that she has every day. It's actually kind of cute. NO! You hate Tori. Do I? Yes, you do.

Am I arguing with myself again? I do that a lot.

"Hey Vega." I say in a droopy tone.

"Are you alright, Jade?"

"I'm fine." I snap at her.

The lesson wasn't very different from the others. Sikowitz rambled on about something, Cat made some stupid comment about her brother and a beached whale, and he called up Tori, Beck, and Eli to do an acting exercise. But today we had back-to-back classes with Sikowitz so during the second half I plopped in my headphones. Ah. Peace at last. Just me, my music, and nothing else. That is until…

"JADE!"

Sikowitz's scream nearly made me fall out of my seat, getting many snickers, but not Tori, who looked like she felt sorry for me. I ripped out my headphones.

"What?!"

"I need you to pay attention to my class."

I glare at him. He takes it as a personal challenge and glares back. He even knocks Sinjin out of his chair and takes it to sit down, all without breaking eye contact.

I'm impressed.

"Alright you have my attention."

"Good! As I was saying, the next play that will be put into production is, you didn't guess it, Romeo and Juliet!"

This intrigued me. My mom used to love watching that version of Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo Dicaprio. I liked it too, but I haven't watched it ever since she died. I still wanted to be in it though.

"The signup sheet will be posted on my door after class. But for now, drive by acting exercise; you're all stranded on an island you're trying to eat each other! GO!"

Unexpectedly, I was tackled by Tori. However, instead of trying to eat me she just stared at me and giggled. Looking at her like this, it made me regret all those times I was mean to her. She really was beautiful. Maybe I was just jealous.

Before she can react and grab her shoulders and reverse our position so I was now on top of her. It was my turn to grin. I leaned down with my mouth open. She looked scared, but to both of our surprises, I instead kissed her on the cheek.

The bell rings so I get up as fast as possible and go to the door. I pull out a pen and write my name on the very first line. Tori walks out next and as if nothing had just happens she asks "Can I borrow your pen?"

"Sure. Keep it."

I hand it to her and walk off. I guess if she's playing it cool I can to. Next I had a singing class and I had recently been paired with Robbie to write a song. Gag. I know he's good at guitar and all, but when it comes to lyrics he's worse than a rapper. Seriously though, how is rap music? Not the point. I consider ditching it and let Robbie suffer. Nah. I want a good grade and I will not tarnish my A+ because of Robbie.

I nearly collide with Andre at the door.

"Oop, sorry Jade. Didn't see you there." He held up his phone to emphasize the fact he was texting.

"It's fine. Just don't do it again."

"No problem. So who'd you get paired with to write a song?"

"Robbie."

"So what I'm hearing is, you do all the work and he just gets to play guitar in the background?"

"Correct. Who'd you get paired with?"

"Rebecca Burkowitz."

"Who's Rebecca Burkowitz?"

He shrugs and says "I didn't know she existed until yesterday."

We take our seats and the bell rings. Robbie walks in awkwardly a second later and the teacher doesn't notice him. He takes a seat behind me and the teacher tells us all to get started. I look over and see Tori and Cat talking about what kind of song they're going to write. I reluctantly turn around and face Robbie.

"So, what kind of song should we write?"

"We?"

"Uh, yeah. We are partners you know."

"Oh please. I'm writing the song."

"Fine. What kind of song are _you_ going to write about?"

"I don't know. Give some ideas. We're supposed to be partners."

The look on his face is priceless. As he starts babbling on I look over at Tori and she sees me and grins. I can still see a little bit of my lipstick on her cheek.


	2. Arrangements

I couldn't think of anything all class. When the bell rang I wasn't in any hurry to get out there. As I was leaving, Tori was at the door as well.

"You to a little something on your cheek." I said, winking as I walk off. I look back and see her grinning.

I didn't have another class with her until lunch. We were the first ones at the table.

"So how's your song with Robbie going?" she asks me.

"Horribly. You know how he is with lyrics and I get think of anything to write about."

"Well what are some of you favorite bands? Maybe you could write a song about them."

"Let's see. Disturbed, A Fire Inside, Three Days Grace, and" I hesitate. She looks at me encouragingly. "Taylor Swift." I barely whisper it.

"I love Taylor Swift! You could write a song like one of hers. I could help you with it if you want."

"But you already have to write a song with Cat."

"Yeah but we're almost finished with it so I'll have some extra time."

"Hey, hey Tori Vega and Jade West." Says Andre as he sits down in between us. I knew I looked kind of sad but I didn't think Tori would.

"What's up peoples?" asks Robbie as he sits down. Robbie starts saying something but I decide not to listen. Tori Vega wants to help me write a song. She knows I kissed her but she didn't try to hide it. What is going on? Does she like me? I always thought she liked Beck. But maybe-

"Jade!" shouts Andre.

Dammit! I was spacing off again.

"What!?"

"We were talkin' about the play Sikowitz is puttin' on."

"Romeo and Juliet?"

"No James and the Giant Peach. Yes Romeo and Juliet!" says Robbie, thinking he will be funny. We all stare at him like he is an idiot and Rex tells us not to bother the ashamed moron, which, of course, gets an argument from Robbie.

"Yeah so what about it?"

"Who do you want to try out for, Jade?"

"I wanted to be Juliet."

"Well I guess I should rethink being Romeo." Says Beck as he sits down. A couple people chuckle but I decide not to even notice him. "I'm kidding. What about you, Tori?"

"Well I was thinking about Juliet, but I kind of want to be Juliet's nurse." When she says this I can't help but picture her wearing a nurse's outfit. She looked pretty good in it.

"You'd be good as a nurse." Everyone looks over at me, completely shocked that I said something nice to Tori Vega. "What? I can't be supportive of Tori?"

"Thank you Jade." She says. I smile back at her. After that it was just everyone talking about their plans for the weekend. As I was getting up from the table to get to my next class Tori comes running up to me.

"So do you wanna work on the son this weekend?"

"Sure, why not?"

"So when should I come over?"

"Er, why don't I come to your house instead?"

"Oh. I can't sorry, my parents are out of town and they left Trina in charge. Since she's mad because someone said I was prettier and more talented, she won't let me have anyone over."

"Oh. Alright, I guess you could come over on Saturday. Any time's fine." I jot down my address quickly and hand it to her.

"Great. See you Saturday."

"See you."

The rest of the day was kind of a blur. I didn't have any more classes with Tori so that was kind of a letdown. At the end of the day I went back to look at the sign-up sheet.

_Jade West_

_Tori Vega_

_Beck Oliver_

_Andre Harris_

_Trina Vega_

_Rebecca Burkowitz_

_Eli Estevez_

_Hannah Harkness_

_Clark Davis_

_Robbie Shapiro_

_Joanna Bates_

_Cat_

_Julia Johnson_

_Soren Daniels_

I can't help but chuckle when I see Cat's name. Just her first name and then a heart. Sikowitz will know it's her. As I was walking away I remembered Trina's name was on the sign-up sheet. Oh god, it's going to be hilarious seeing her bomb her audition.

When I got home I walked in on my dad and step-mom in the middle of a make-out session. Scratch that. Her shirt was off and so was his jacket.

"Uggh."

I shake my head and walk into my room. Before the door can even close my dad walks in.

"Sit down, Jade."

"It's alright. I know what you were doing. Besides, I'm a little too old for 'the talk'."

"It's not that, Jade. I wanted to tell you some fantastic news."

"Your definition of fantastic or mine?"

"Francine is pregnant."

"What?! How did that happen?!"

"Didn't you just say you were too old for 'the talk'?"

"Dad, please. Just leave me alone."

He nods and starts to walk out.

"Oh, wait."

"What?!" he's irritated. I love that.

"My friend is coming over tomorrow."

"What friend?"

"Do you remember the girl who helped me produce my play last year?"

"Lori?"

"Tori."

"Alright. Just no funny business."

"Whatever you say, corporal." I do a pathetic salute and smile weakly, just to get on his nerves. I can see him clench his fists and then unclench them before he leaves. When he shuts the door I burst out laughing.


	3. The Study Date

Saturday morning. Tori is coming over today. What should I wear? Should I even care what I wear? Just dress normally. No sweat.

Big sweat. It took almost two hours before I could find something decent. And when I finally got it on the doorbell rang. I rushed over before anyone else could answer. I open the door and I see Tori standing there, barely taking her hand away from the doorbell.

"Hey." I manage to get out between breaths.

"Hi. Can I come in?"

"Please do." I make a gesture towards the inside of my home and she walks in. we get to my room and I shut the door behind us.

"Before we get started I need to show you a song."

"Sure, what's it called?"

"Gang of Rhythm by Walk off the Earth."

"Never heard of it."

"It's great."

She wasn't lying. It was really a great song. "Okay, that was really, really good."

"I know right? Shall we get started?"

After about fifteen minutes we had most of the lyrics covered and she was working on the guitar notes for Robbie. After a while I decided on a title: I Won't Say Yes. Don't ask me why, it just fits with the song. Honestly, I think it's even the best song I've ever written.

After everything was done we decided to just talk a little. We were both lying on my bed, pretty close to each other. Our hands were so close we might as well have been holding hands. And I didn't mind. What is happening to me? After about five minutes of pure silence and bliss we both turn our heads so that we make eye contact. It had to be at that very moment my god damn step-mom had to yell out "Jade?! Would you and your friend like some meatloaf?!"

"Do you want some meatloaf?" I asked her.

"No thanks." She says with a chuckle.

"NO!"

"Wow. She's really something." Says Tori.

"I hate her. She thinks she can just weasel her way into my family and replace my mom."

"Jade?"

"Yeah?"

"If you don't mind my asking, what did happen to your mom?"

I sigh.

"She died."

"Oh god. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. You didn't know."

"What happened?"

"She and dad had just gotten into a fight because he had been cheating on her so she got in her car and drove off. A couple hours later the cops came by and told us she was rammed into by a bank robber. I was six."

"Oh, Jade, I'm so sorry."

She pulled me into a considerate hug and I rested my head on her shoulder. I could feel my eyes watering. Just thinking about her makes me sad.

"Were you really close to her?"

"Yeah. She's the reason I want to be Juliet. She used to love Romeo and Juliet."

"Aaaww. I swear Jade I will help you as much as I can to help you with it."

We pull apart but keep our arms around each other.

"Thanks."

We remain frozen in place for what seemed like an eternity. Once again before anything could happen, her phone goes off.

"Who is it?"

"Andre. He asked me if we want to meet him and the rest of the gang at Nozu and then go see a movie. Do you want to?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Alright. And Jade?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry we got interrupted."

"We should do this again sometime."

"We should."

She holds out her hand and I take it. Our fingers remain entwined until we got to my car and I drove us to Nozu.

**A/N: Hey guys the song Tori talked about, Gang of Rhythm, it's real and it's great! You should check it out!**


	4. The Kiss and the Confrontation

When I pull into the parking lot at Nozu I almost dread getting out. I just wanted a little more along time with Tori. But we both get out of the car and walk in. We see Andre stand up and wave us over to a table that looks like it could fit ten more people.

We both sit down next to each other.

"Did you guys come here together?" asked Robbie, in an obnoxious way.

"Yes. Is that a problem, Robert?" I say, making sure to call him Robert because I know he hates it.

"No." he mumbles as he hangs his head. I grin triumphantly. Tori gives me a look that says 'Don't me mean' but in a playful way. I shoot her an apologetic look.

The rest of dinner just drags on and on. Beck brought up the topic of the play and soon everyone was joining in. Except me. All I could think about was Tori. How much I wanted to kiss her. NO! You don't want to kiss Tori. You want to kill Tori. No, I want to kiss her. Shut up! God, I hate arguing with myself. It's your own fault.

"Jade?" asks Tori in a caring way.

"What?" I ask, snapping back to reality.

"Didn't you say you wanted to try out for Juliet?"

"Uh, yeah. I do."

"Do you want to tell them why?" she asks quietly, making sure they can't hear her. I shake my head and she nods, understanding why. That's what I love about her. she really cares. Whoa, wait. Love? You do _not_ love Tori Vega. You can't! Do I? No. Yes. No. Yes, I do. I love Tori Vega. Oh god. I think I'm gonna be sick.

"I have to go to the bathroom." I say and I bolt away. When I get into the bathroom I look at myself in the mirror. What do you see? I see a girl. Girls are supposed to love boys. But, sometimes they love girls. Am I one of those girls? I think the better question is, is Tori one of those girls? She definitely hinted towards it. Does she feel the same way?

Look again. Think differently. What do you see? I see a goth girl. A goth girl that almost nobody likes. I do not see Juliet. Imagine yourself as Juliet. What do you look like? I don't have any piercings, my hair doesn't have any other colors in it, and it isn't even black. My hair is light brown. I see my skin a little darker. I can't help but like the way I look as Juliet. God, what is happening to me? Is Tori making me change? Or was the meant to happen either way?

Before I can dive any deeper, Tori walks in.

"Hey, Jade."

"Hi." I can barely choke that out.

"Is something wrong?"

Yes.

"No. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I said I'm fine."

"Okay. We should get back to the table don't you think?"

"Actually I think I'm just gonna go home."

"Oh, alright. I guess I could catch a ride with Beck and the others."

I can hear the disappointment in her voice.

"Tori?"

"Yeah?" she turns back to face me.

"There's something I have to give you before I go."

"What is it?"

I grab her hands and pull her in close so that our lips meet. It wasn't long before she was kissing me back. We break apart for air and before she can say anything else, I'm gone. Driving away. Away from Nozu. Away from Tori. What do I do now? Should I call her and explain? No, that's dumb. I'll just let things play out the way they're supposed to. Knowing Tori, she'll keep my secret and won't tell the others.

Instead of driving him, I find myself driving to Hollywood Arts. I park the car and walk in. the door was locked, but that wasn't a problem. I walk into Sikowitz's room and I look at the spot where I had tackled Tori and then kissed her on the cheek. I sighed and left the room.

I walked to the Blackbox Theatre and I look around.

"What is wrong with me?"

Before I can help myself, I start singing. I can't help the song I'm singing. I just had to go with Taylor Swift on this one. Love Story just fits. When I hit the last note I hear clapping. Shit. Who did I just sing for?"

"Excellent work Jade!"

Sikowitz. I turn to face him.

"May I ask who that song was sung for?"

"No, you may not. What are you doing here anyways?"

"I don't know. What are you doing here?"

He got me there.

"I just needed to get away."

"And you feel comfortable on the stage. It makes sense. You're a performer."

"Uum, thanks?"

"It's not a compliment. It's a fact. It's also a fact that out of everyone in Hollywood Arts, you're the only one that has earned my absolute respect."

Whoa.

"Wow. I don't know what to say to that."

"Well you might say thank you since that was a compliment."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. I have great faith in you, Jade Maryn West!"

"How do you know my middle name?"

"How do you know my middle name?"

"I don't."

"Oh, right. It's Murl. Well, I'll see you on Monday, Jade. And I trust I'll see at the auditions."

"Yeah. You will."

"FANTASTIC! Have a nice night."

And with that, he turns and leaves. What just happened?

This time when I get in my car I actually drive home.


	5. The Worst Day

The rest of the weekend sucked. I could already see my step-mom getting fatter. My dad went on a business trip so it was just her and me. I managed to lock myself in my room for the rest of the weekend so I wouldn't have to see her, even when she insisted we have some "mother-daughter time."

You are _not_ my mom, witch.

I turned off my phone so I wouldn't get any calls. When I turned it back on Monday morning, I had one call from Robbie and, whoa! Seven calls from Tori. Wow. Should I call her back? No, it'd be better to talk to her in person.

I get in my car and drive to school. When I'm halfway there I remember the auditions are today. I really hope I don't screw things up. I park next to Trina Vega's car and I can see them getting out of the car. Tori seems to be struggling carrying in all her textbooks. When I get out she drops two of them. I pick them up and hand them to her with a slight smile. She grabs them and scowls at me before turning around.

I'm usually the one who does the scowling. What I did must have really hurt her. I need to fix this. I run up next to her.

"Tori, we need to talk."

"What is there to talk about? You kissed me and left. You ignored all of my calls. I've had enough of your shit!"

"Tori-" she walks away before I can finish saying her name. Should I go after her? No. Let her go. If she doesn't want you, that's her problem. But I want her. Arrgh!

I go after her again.

"Tori, I'm sorry. I should've stayed and explained."

"Yeah, but you didn't."

"Tori." I grab her arm and she looks me in the eye.

"I'm only acting like this because I- I think I- I…"

"You what, Jade?"

"I think I love you!"

"Wow, you have a great way of showing it."

When she walks away, I cry. I haven't cried since my mom died. I do not cry. I decide to skip my first class and hide out in the Janitor's Closet. I ball my eyes out while cutting apart the trash can. At least scissors can still bring me happiness. Barely.

When the bell rings I pick myself up and wipe my eyes. I leave the Janitor's Closet and end up being the first one at Sikowitz's class.

I sit down and wait for everyone else to arrive. One after one they come in and surround me. I notice Tori tries especially hard to pick a seat away from me. And the lucky one who gets to sit next to me is Cat! Yay.

"Hiiiiiiii, Jade." She says while hugging me.

"Get off of me."

She gets off of me and frowns. She then smiles and begins laughing like an idiot before talking.

"Sooooo, how are things with Tori?"

"What? What do you mean things with Tori?"

"It would take a real idiot not to see what's going on between you two."

I'm confused. Is she suddenly not an idiot?

"Lousy, Cat. They're going lousy."

"Ooooh, I'm sorry."

"CLASS! The bell has rung! Sit down and shut up!"

The class does as he says.

"Wow, I did not expect you to do what I said. Hmmm, I was planning on letting you guys just have a free hour."

This gets some cheers.

"But no matter! We'll do an improve exercise! Jade! Get up here and pick a group!"

Uggh. I drag myself up there. "Cat. Andre. Beck. And Tori."

She glares at me as she comes up. This is the same group Tori picked when she got back at me for pouring coffee on her head. What a coincidence. Maybe it was supposed to be this way. I look down bat Robbie and see him pouting that I didn't pick him. Sucker.

"Alright class, give us a scene!"

"A tropical island!" yells out one student.

"That's infested with zombies!" yells another.

"Alright, we have a zombie infected island! Give us a situation!"

"One of them is a zombie is trying to eat the others!" shouts Robbie.

"NO! Any other ideas?" shouts Sikowitz.

"The zombies are getting close to them so they need to hide!"

"Alright! Now gives us a letter to start at!"

"Q!"

Oh great. Q. How I am I supposed to start a scene with Q?

"Jade?! Are you not listening? Start the scene!" shouts Sikowitz.

"Quick! Get down, the zombies are coming." I shout, already getting into character.

"Beck! R!"

"Ready everyone? My trap is about to catch a zombie!"

"Andre! S!"

"Shut up man! That trap'll never work!"

"Tori, what do you think we should do?" asks Cat in a delightful manner.

"Under-ground! We can hide underground!"

"Vega are you serious? Do you have any idea how long that would take?" I say, not meaning to sound so poisonous.

"Would both of you cut it out?" asks Beck.

"Yeah, what he said!"

Sikowitz makes a timer noise. "Andre! You're out! You forgot about X! Sit down!"

"Oh man." Says Andre as he pathetically sits back down.

"Cat! Keep it going at X!"

"X is my favorite letter! What about you guys?" Sikowitz puts his face in his palm.

"You have no idea how much trouble we're in, Cat!" shouts Tori.

"Zombies! They're getting closer!"

"All of you be quiet! I can deal with them. Wait, no! Aaahh!" Beck pretends to be dragged away buy zombies.

"Beck! The zombies took him!"

"Cat, if you hadn't been messing around Beck would still be here!" shouts Tori.

"I'm sorry!" shouts Cat angrily.

Another timer noise. "CAT! You're out! The letter D comes after C! Everyone knows that!"

"Arrgh! You hate me!"

He hands her a piece of chocolate and she quietly sits back down.

"Jade! Keep it going at D!"

"Do you think we should go after him?"

"Everyone we know is zombified. I don't think one person will make a difference."

"For Pete's Sake we need all the help we can get!"

"Grrrr! I'm gonna eat your brains!" shouts Beck as he returns, zombified.

"Help us! Anyone!" I shout.

"I know what we can do!" yells Tori as she stage punches Beck in the face.

"Jolly gum drops that hurt!" shouts the zombified Beck.

"Karate. I like your style Tori." I wink at her hoping she smile. She smiles. Yes! It's working!

"Let me teach you some of my moves sometime." She's flirting right back. I love this scene.

"Me eat you!" shouts Beck. Now he's kind of just making things awkward.

"NO!" I shout, stage kicking him and he falls over.

"Would you guys stop hitting me?"

Timer noise. "Beck! You're out! O comes after N!"

He doesn't complain like everyone else.

"Tori! Keep it going at O!"

"Oh my god! This is getting scary."

"Please, calm down. I'll keep you safe."

"Quicksand! Watch out we almost walked right into it!"

"Really dangerous! I hate this island." I'm just scrambling for words so I can keep talking to Tori.

"Stupid zombies."

"Time to leave. I think the two of us could make it."

"Until we can find out how, we should stay here."

"Vacating the island would be easier."

"What is it with you and leaving?" She directs this question straight at me.

"Xylophones are at my house and I miss them."

"You don't think I want to be with you?" she is definitely talking about the kiss now.

I look at the class and they are all befuddled, wanting to know what happens next. But before I can talk I hear a timer noise.

"Jade! You hesitated! Both of you sit down!"

As we're walking down she whispers to me "We'll talk at auditions."

I grin like a maniac when I sit down. When class ends I head to music class. We had our performances and mine and Robbie's got a lot of cheers, especially from Tori. She was definitely lightening up.

After all my classes were over, I headed to the auditorium. I push the doors open and walk in.


	6. Auditions

I instantly regret it. I see almost half of the school crowded in the Auditorium, expecting to be cast as one of the main roles. What chance do I have? A big one. You're one of the greatest actors in this room. But that isn't really my main priority right now. I scope out the auditorium until I find Tori Vega.

I start to push my way through the crowd of people who aren't going to get cast. When I get to her, Sikowitz steps onto the stage.

"Alright everybody listen up!" Everyone looks over at him. "I think it's obvious that not all of you will get cast, and it's going to be a nightmare for me. So, if you know you have no chance at being cast, please leave."

After he says this, almost half of the people there leave.

"Much better! I will select a certain amount of people and assign you a scene to rehearse and then you shall present it for me to judge. Nod if you understand."

We all nod.

"Good! First I will select, Tori and Jade. Scene 6. Go!"

We look at each other and back at Sikowitz.

"Whose playing who?" asks Tori.

"That's for you to decide."

We look at each other and shrug. We grab the scripts and head into the hallway. We look over the scene quickly and see it is where Juliet's nurse tries to talk Juliet out of loving Romeo.

"You can be Juliet." Says Tori.

"Thanks. Tori, we need to talk."

"Later. Right now, we need to practice the scene."

"We can practice the scene later."

"No, we can't. Jade, please."

"Fine."

We run through the scene like it was nothing. We decided to practice the ending one more time. Just in case.

By now, Sikowitz has sent out three other groups to practice on scenes.

"But, Mistress, he's a Montague." Tori was in character.

"I know that, but he's so lovely." I didn't even know who I was talking about.

"If your parents knew about you and he, they would have your head on a platter."

"We mean to tell them. Not now. It's too soon. I can trust you, can't I?"

"Of course you can mistress." She grabbed my hand. "Perhaps you'd like to talk about it?"

"Of course I want to talk about it! I want the whole world to know how much I love you! Him!" I was barely able to correct my mistake, but she caught it. She grabbed my other hand.

"I don't think the world is ready for this."

"But I do."

That was the end of the script. I was about to lean in, but she put her to my lip and gestured to the other groups, who, thankfully, hadn't noticed us yet.

"Right. Let's go."

After performing our scene in front of Sikowitz, auditions felt boring. I had to run through a couple more scenes, and I played Juliet in almost every one of them. I had to kiss Beck twice in separate scenes, and some guy named Soren, once. I could tell he was scared to do it, which made me happy.

After auditions, Tori met me at my car.

"Is it finally time to talk?" I asked.

"Yes, it finally is."

"Good. What do you want me to say? Sorry I kissed you and didn't talk to you?"

"A little bit, yeah."

I grab her hands.

"Look, Tori. I am sorry I didn't call you, but I'm not sorry I kissed you."

"I can't really say I am either."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Prove it."

"Okay."

She leans in and kisses me right there in the parking lot with a bunch of people around. Honestly, I don't care if anyone noticed. When we pull apart, I look around and don't think anyone important did.

"Wow."

"Yeah. Hey, since Trina left without me, can you give me a ride home?"

"Yeah, sure. Get in."


End file.
